SPORTS PEOPLE: BASEBALL

SPORTS PEOPLE: BASEBALL; Japanese Re-questioned

Published: April 25, 1992

The owner of the Chicago White Sox, JERRY REINSDORF, said he will ask for additional changes in the Japanese-led bid for the Seattle Mariners when baseball's ownership committee meets Thursday to discuss the proposed sale.

Reinsdorf said he wanted more assurances that the Japanese will not be able to control team decisions and said he might urge the 10-member committee to postpone action.

"It may be that other committee members are more satisfied than me, but I'll ask for the changes," Reinsdorf said. He indicated he was dissatisfied with the partnership structure of the bidding group, which is financed 60 percent by HIROSHI YAMAUCHI, president of Nintendo Company Ltd. of Kyoto.

The bid calls for decision-making on the Mariners to rest with a seven-member board of directors. STEPHEN GREENBERG, the deputy commissioner, said there were concerns about the number of board seats to be held by Yamauchi's representatives.

The group has proposed to insure local control by making JOHN ELLIS, chairman of Puget Sound Power & Light Company, the team's president and by filling Mariners' board seats with Seattle-area investors. (AP)